6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Fong Sai Yuk's uninhibited arrogance toward a Manchu lord forces him to seek refuge in a Shaolin temple. Although abundantly trained in the martial arts, he is no match for Master San Te, the creator of the 36th Chamber of Shaolin, who constantly overpowers his younger, more agile disciples in matters of both body and mind. Exhausted by his frequent defeats, Fong seeks to escape his prison and crosses paths with a governor, who rewards him with a yellow robe granting immunity from any Manchu. But what are the governor's true intentions? Will Fong feed his foolish ego and betray the Shaolin Temple?
Starring: Hou Hsiao, Chia-Hui Liu, Lily Li, Ming-Wai Chan, Jason Piao PaiForeign | 100% |
Martial arts | 38% |
Action | 13% |
Period | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.38:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
Mandarin: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Shawscope Volume Two.
The good news is if you have a martial arts fan you've been worried about finding an appropriate holiday present for, your prayers have been
answered (for
the second year in a row in fact), by the thoughtful folks at Arrow Video, who are returning to the evidently bottomless well that gave lovers of a
certain Hong
Kong studio one of 2021's most impressive releases,
Shawscope Volume One. The bad news is, if you're a martial arts fan intrigued by this new release, you're going to have to
put the rest of your life on hold to make it through not just a glut of Shaw Brothers films, but an immense assortment of supplemental material. As
with the first volume of Shawscope, there's probably no doubt that some films will appeal to some viewers more than others, but the sheer
variety of films in this set, along with an authoritative set of bonus features, will almost certainly make this a marquee item for genre aficionados.
Disciples of the 36th Chamber is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1. Arrow's insert booklet lumps all the films together on its page devoted to the restorations, as follows:
All fourteen films in this boxset are presented in their original aspect ratios (2.35:1 for all films except 1.85:1 for The Boxer's Omen and The Bare-Footed Kid) with their original Mandarin, English, and Cantonese (where applicable) monoaural soundtracks. Every effort has been made to present these films in their original and complete versions using the best materials available.The strength of the palette in this presentation is probably one of its most memorable elements, and everything from bold primaries to some rather gorgeous pastel-like pinks and oranges keep this visually entrancing a lot of the time. This is however another transfer where color temperatures can vary a bit, and things can look just slightly flushed or even tinged toward brown occasionally. Detail levels are generally very good to excellent, especially with regard to things like textures on costumes. In the broken record department, this is, like virtually all of the presentations in this set, occasionally subject to pretty severe anamorphic squeezing at the very edges of the frames. Grain is just a bit mottled looking, but there's obviously been no overt filtering done.
Return to the 36th Chamber, Disciples of the 36th Chamber, My Young Auntie, Martial Arts of Shaolin and The Bare-Footed Kid were remastered by Celestial Pictures in 2003-2007, as part of an initiative to digitally restore the entire Shaw Brothers library. The High Definition masters of these restorations, which included the original Mandarin, Cantonese and English mono soundtracks, were supplied to Arrow Films by Celestial Pictures.
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin was restored by Celestial Pictures and L'Immagine Ritrovata in 2020. Additional grading was completed at R3Store Studios, London in 2021.
Mad Monkey Kung Fu, Five Superfighters, Invincible Shaolin, The Kid with the Golden Arm, Magnificent Ruffians, Ten Tigers of Kwangtung, Mercenaries from Hong Kong and The Boxer's Omen have all been newly restored by Arrow Films in 2021 and 2022, in collaboration with L'Immagine Ritrovata, Hong Kong Film Archive and Celestial Pictures. The original 35mm negatives for these films were scanned at L'Immagine Ritrovata Asia and restored in 2K resolution at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. The films were graded at R3Store Studios, London. These restorations have used the entire film negative without resorting to the practice of "frame-cutting" resulting in the loss of film frames at each negative splice point.
The mono mixes were remastered from the original sound negatives at L'Immagine Ritrovata. Additional sound remastering was completed by Matthew Jarman/Bad Princess Productions.
All original materials supplied for these restorations were made available from the Hong Kong Film Archive via Celestial Pictures.
Excerpts from vintage 35mm feature print elements for Return to the 36th Chamber, Disciples of the 36th Chamber and My Young Auntie and vintage 35mm trailer prints for Disciples of the 36th Chamber, Mad Monkey Kung Fu, Mercenaries from Hong Kong and The Boxer's Omen were scanned and graded in 2K resolution at American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) and R3Store Studios.
Additional print materials were made available from American Genre Film Archive (AGFA), Harry Guerro, Scott Napier, King-Wei Chu and Howard Zinman.
Disciples of the 36th Chamber features Cantonese, Mandarin and English audio options, all delivered via DTS-HD Master Audio Mono. In this case, the Cantonese track struck my ears as being at least somewhat brighter and clearer than the Mandarin track, though the difference is not huge. As with many of the soundtracks in this second Shawscope volume, highs on all three options can be a little intense, especially in "blaring" moments like the music accompanying the Shaw Brothers masthead. The English track has some surprising energy in the midrange and low end. Dialogue, effects and score are delivered without any major issues in all three tracks. Optional English subtitles are available.
Arrow has packaged Return to the 36th Chamber and Disciples of the 36th Chamber together on one disc. However, after selecting Choose Film on the Main Menu, the Special Features then also change to reflect that choice. This film features the following supplements:
- HK Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:33)
- Digital Reissue Trailer (HD*; 1:07)
The laws of attrition are probably starting to show with regard to this ostensible "third in a series" offering. Liu is as engaging a presence as always, but his character is really almost a supporting one in this story. Technical merits are generally solid, and while not as copious as on some of the other films in this set, the supplements are enjoyable, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.
(Still not reliable for this title)
少林搭棚大師 / Shao Lin da peng da shi
1980
Tang shan wu hu / 唐山五虎
1979
Nan bei Shao Lin / 南北少林
1986
Nan Shao Lin yu bei Shao Lin / 南少林與北少林
1978
Feng hou / 瘋猴
1979
Chi jiao xiao zi / Chik geuk siu ji / 赤腳小子
1993
Zhang bei / 長輩
1981
Lie mo zhe / 獵魔者
1982
Mai ming xiao zi / 賣命小子
1979
Guang Dong shi hu yu hou wu hu / 廣東十虎與後五虎
1980
Jin bi tong / 金臂童
1979
少林三十六房 / Shao lin san shi liu fang
1978
Mo / 魔
1983
The Executioners of Death / Hong Xi Guan
1977
Return of the 5 Deadly Venoms
1978
1978
Five Fingers of Death / Tian xia di yi quan
1972
1972
Lan tou He
1979
Liu A-Cai yu Huang Fei-Hong
1976